Tebas risks controversy ahead of El Clasico by revealing he has supported Los
Blancos since he was a child

La Liga president Javier Tebas has chosen the week before El Clasico to reveal that he is a lifelong Real Madrid fan.

Speaking to Spanish newspaper AS, Tebas said that he wants Premier League stars like David De Gea and Wayne Rooney to come to Spain and also that: "If I say I don't support Madrid, then that would be hypocritical and I would be painted as a liar. And I certainly don't like to be called a liar.

"Imagine if I said that I loved all teams, and then it came out that I supported Madrid since I was a boy, went to 27 Clasicos in the past, that I celebrated Madrid wins with friends in a bar.

"I prefer to call it as it is."

Although Tebas does also stress that his allegiances do not affect his decision-making in his role as president, the comments will probably not assuage Barca's fears that the Spanish authorities favour their great rivals.

The match officials had not been decided at the time (October) but it is alleged that pressure was put on the likely referee of La Liga's famous match and he in turn contacted his potential assistants to inform that they were to help Rafa Benitez's side out.

In case you weren't sure, this isn't allowed.

El Clasico has long attracted conspiracy theorists who claim officials are biased one way or another, and these comments don't really do much for one of these, Jose Mourinho, who made constant assertions that the reason his Real Madrid side kept losing games was because the referees all supported Barcelona.

Fortunately, Mourinho has since learned the error of his ways and has stopped placing blame on referees when things go wrong.

El Clasico: Leo Messi scores against Real Madrid in 2014 Photo: AP

Tebas has also had his say on the possibility of staging El Clasico outside Spain, which seems a non-starter.

"The Clasico will never be played outside of Spain. It's a key game in our league competition and has huge international prestige.

"We'll study the possibility of playing certain games outside of Spain but at present this initiative doesn't form part of our international expansion plans."

Photo: GETTY

Tebas also told AS that he believes Gareth Bale is a star signing for La Liga and that he wants to attract more Premier League talent - specifically, Manchester United duo David De Gea and Wayne Rooney:

"I'd like to have seen Rooney play in Spain. I'd like to have seen a Premier League icon play in our league [...] [David] de Gea is one of the best goalkeepers in the world and I wish he played in our league, regardless of who for."

Rumours that Tebas delivered the last part of that sentence while winking at the interviewer have not yet been proven.

Lionel Messi, meanwhile, has returned to full training with Barcelona this week as he tries to be fit in time for El Clasico, having played in training games with Barca B last week.

It is believed that Messi may play some part in Saturday's showcase but is not quite ready for a full 90 minutes, having been out with a knee injury since September.